The Weakening of America

The Weakening of America

A piece from Capstone’s John Rogers on some of the longer reaching consequences of government inaction. Follow him on LinkedIn.

“My fellow Americans, ask not what your Country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your Country.”

With those 20 words spoken by President Kennedy, the course and direction of the country was forever altered. Scores of great Americans dedicated themselves to public service, making our nation one of the greatest of all time.

Today, thanks in no small part to the Tea Party wing of the Republican party, we are sending the exact opposite message. The message that Congress sends now is that government is bad. That the 800,000 workers don’t really matter and neither does their work. “Essentially,” they are second-class citizens. Looking down the road, what kind of student is going to put government at the top of their career list? Do you think it’s the brilliant student who hears the electeds of today speak and wants to make government their career track? I don’t think so.

This is not just about the shutdown. It’s deeper than that. It’s about our priorities.

Think of the burgeoning young scientist who decides not to become a researcher because she’s heard horror stories about working with the government. About whether or not she can work on stem cells, about whether or not she’ll be able to capture grant dollars at a university and get her own lab, about whether or not she’ll want to go work at the NIH’s prestigious campus in Bethesda.

Taken together, the nation is positioning itself for a weakened future. While today’s government shutdown impact may range from negligible to painful, depending on how one works and interacts with the government, the long term consequences are deep and dangerous. Hopefully my dear friends across the country – in red and blue states alike – will see this and start to turn back the tide of the weakening of America.

The views in this blog post represent the viewpoints of individual team members, not Capstone National Partners as a whole.